Is Amazon Planning Meal Kits?

Does it feel as though Amazon is taking over every aspect of your life? That's certainly true where your appetite is concerned. In the wake of their $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods and a partnership with Olive Garden, the mega-company has filed trademarks for a possible line of meal kits.

An investigation from TechCrunch turned up several trademarks that allude to a possible foray into the world of meal kits, including one for the phrase, “We do the prep. You be the chef.” Amazon already sells meal kits from third party companies like Tyson and the Martha Stewart-Marley Spoon collaboration, and delivers them through Amazon Fresh.

The venture is bound the be a threat to Blue Apron, the dominating force in the meal kit world at the moment, as the largest provider of the service in the country. In fact, just days after Amazon filed the trademarks, Blue Apron’s stocks plummeted, falling by at least 10 percent (though any correlation is purely speculative).

TechCrunch’s investigation also turned up evidence that Amazon is planning a line of pre-made food. 10 trademarks have been filed related the phrase “single cow burger,” for instance. This type of burger might have something to do with Amazon’s Wagyu beef burgers, which are already for sale. According to the company, the burgers are “high-quality patties [made] from one source and are available exclusively on AmazonFresh.”

Amazon also filed a trademark for “Some eat to live. We live to eat,” the tagline for its already-in-circulation line of snack foods called Wickedly Prime.

Whatever Amazon is cooking up, the company clearly is aiming to take over the prepared food sector, positioning their products—from appliances, to books, to robotic personal assistants that can look up cocktail for recipes for you as you prepare for a dinner party—even more firmly in your kitchen.